The Charge

The craziest heroine who ever crept between the pages of a best-selling
novel!

Opening Statement

"I'm like cat here, a no-name slob. We belong to nobody, and nobody
belongs to us. We don't even belong to each other."

Facts of the Case

Paul Varjak (George Peppard, The
A-Team) is a struggling writer currently being "sponsored" by the
wealthy Emily Eustace Failenson, who has just moved Paul into a New York City
apartment. Paul isn't exactly proud of the arrangement he has with Mrs.
Failenson (he provides her with certain "services" in exchange for her
financing), but it's an easy way to get by. Shortly after moving into his new
apartment building, Paul meets Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn, Charade), an eccentric socialite unlike any
other woman Paul has ever met. She's charming, loopy, and entirely
unpredictable; a bewildering delight Paul quickly develops feelings for.
However, Holly has a whole lot of unpleasant secrets lying beneath her radiant
exterior. Will these two troubled souls ever find a way to rid themselves of
their personal baggage?

The Evidence

Though Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly is one of cinema's most iconic
characters, you can see why Truman Capote (author of the novella upon which the
film is based) initially wanted Marilyn Monroe in the role. Holly is a
delightful, beautiful, beloved ingenue working hard to mask deep inner pain, a
character who certainly reflected the real-life Monroe. Ironically, Monroe wound
up playing a very similar role in The Misfits the same year
Breakfast at Tiffany's was released, and her performance was remarkable.
However, there was an unmistakable sadness in Monroe's eyes that gave her away;
a broken spirit that any attentive person could detect. It would have been there
no matter what sort of character she was playing, as that sadness seemed to be
omnipresent during the later years of Monroe's life.

Hepburn, on the other hand, doesn't initially appear to be masking anything.
Her joy seems so genuine; her eyes sparkle with enthusiasm as she breathlessly
addresses one subject or another. Her smile is one of the most enchanting sights
in the movies; an infectious grin guaranteed to make anyone feel just a little
bit better. People fall in love with her, but they are usually ill-equipped to
deal with the troubles that will inevitably surface if they dig deep enough.
Like the "Moon River" of the film's theme song, she inspires dreams
and breaks hearts. As the film slowly reveals the truth about Holly's past,
Hepburn subtly allows the overwhelming sadness to creep in. It's a beautiful
performance, slipping from radiance to overwhelming fearfulness (or "the
reds," as Holly so memorably suggests) in a heartbreakingly graceful
manner. Has there ever been another actress capable of capturing our hearts with
such disarming ease?

Though Holly persists in measuring a man's value by the size of his bank
account, it's Paul who seems to have a chance at generating something lasting
with her. Like Holly, he's a seemingly distinguished member of society held
captive by unacknowledged secrets. They both yearn to break free, but doing so
would require each of them to take significant risks and confront serious
personal issues. Paul doesn't make as much of an impression, largely because
Peppard's performance is fairly bland and the actor isn't too good at conveying
his own internal conflict, but the screenplay does a nice job of quietly
accentuating the similarities between these two drifters after the same
rainbow's end.

For the most part, director Blake Edwards is attentive to the emotional
needs of the story, allowing his direction to tighten or loosen as required. The
opening sequence is such a beautifully relaxed piece of filmmaking, as an
elegant-dressed Holly enjoys a croissant in front of Tiffany's. Edwards keeps
things bustling and energetic during the early party sequence, and allows the
pace to turn appreciably languid during the unexpectedly lovely sequence
featuring Buddy Ebsen (The Beverly
Hillbillies) as Holly's former husband. The film owes so much of its
emotional pull to Henry Mancini's score, as his variations on "Moon
River" are consistently powerful enough to overwhelm us with their aching
simplicity. The film's famous closing sequence is strong stuff (yes, a violation
of Capote's novel and pure Hollywood fantasy, but strong stuff regardless), and
it owes so much its power to the depth of feeling in Mancini's music.

Breakfast at Tiffany's strolls on to Blu-ray sporting a somewhat
problematic 1080p/1.85:1 transfer. The good news? The film looks better than it
ever has on home video. The bad news? This release is plagued by a good deal of
digital noise reduction (DNR), which seems to have been applied inconsistently
throughout the film. Select moments will look warm, natural and gorgeous, while
others have that distinctively waxy, overscrubbed look. Detail suffers on
occasion, but again, it's very inconsistent. The film is almost entirely free of
scratches and flecks, flesh tones are warm and natural and blacks are
impressively deep, but the DNR is going to prove rather troublesome for many
cinephiles. Audio is a good deal better, with clean dialogue and a very
rich-sounding musical track. Mancini's score has never sounded stronger, and the
busier scenes do a nice job of fusing sound design with dialogue and incidental
music (speaking of which, that cha-cha version of "Moon River" is kind
of amusing). Supplements have been ported over from the previous DVD release: a
commentary with Richard Shepherd, a generous supply of featurettes ("A
Golightly Gathering," "Henry Mancini: More Than Music," "Mr.
Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective," "The Making of a Classic,"
"It's So Audrey: A Style Icon," "Behind the Gates: The
Tour," "Brilliance in a Blue Box" and "Audrey's Letter to
Tiffany"), some galleries and a trailer.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Do I even have to say it? Mickey Rooney's performance as Mr. Yunioshi has
long been an unfortunate blemish on an otherwise lovely film. Rooney certainly
wasn't the only Caucasian actor of his era to play an Asian character, but his
cartoonish performance makes Marlon Brando's turn in The Teahouse of the August Moon look like the
epitome of tastefulness. Regardless of whether or not it's racist, the character
is completely out of synch with the rest of the film. The majority of the comedy
in Breakfast at Tiffany's is witty, sophisticated stuff; Mr. Yunioshi
spends his scenes screaming at the top of his lungs and running into things.
Imagine The Three Stooges popping up to perform a quick slapstick routine every
fifteen minutes or so during Casablanca and you'll have an idea of
the effect Rooney's character has on Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Closing Statement

Mickey Rooney's ill-advised antics aside, Breakfast at Tiffany's
remains a touching, absorbing film that spotlights Ms. Hepburn at her very
finest. This Blu-ray release isn't as strong as it ought to be, but it
represents a good excuse to revisit a classic.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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